Agricultural implements and machines, such as various plows, tillers, rippers, seeders, nutrient applicators, etc., are used to work soil for growing crops. Tillage and other agricultural implements can perform a variety of tasks, such as breaking up tough soil, injecting nutrients into the soil, and leveling the soil. Such implements are commonly towed behind work vehicles, such as tractors, and can be outfitted with a variety of ground-engaging tools, such as shanks and disks, depending on the soil preparation operation being carried out.
The ability to efficiently and effectively conduct soil preparation operations is highly effected by the soil conditions, such as the wetness of the soil, how much crop residue is in the soil, and the general composition of the soil. In some agricultural implements, ground-engaging tools may suffer from a buildup of soil and crop residue, especially when the soil is particularly wet, resulting in decreased efficiency of the ground-engaging tools and potentially clogging the ground-engaging tools. This may require the operator of the work vehicle and agricultural implement to stop and exit the machine to manually unclog or clean the ground-engaging tools, resulting in lost time and decreased productivity. Another issue, which can be worsened by the clogging problem just mentioned, is maintaining proper contact of the ground-engaging tools with the ground to achieve the desired soil preparation, be it achieving and maintaining a sufficient depth into the ground, or a consistent depth across the width of the implement transverse to the travel direction of the machine.
These issues can be particularly troublesome for closing disk arrangements on tillage or other implements. Closing disks are typically used to fill in furrows, or trenches, and either level, or form mounded rows for later compaction of, the soil that was displaced by the ground-engaging tools located ahead of the closing disks on the implement. Improper or inconsistent closing disk operation can result in trenches being left open or insufficiently filled.